Liars and thieves, right?

For years now there have been meaningful, important discussion on this forum.  But there is a segment of the population--both on and off line--who have remained convinced that the good times will never end and that there's always a bigger payoff waiting for everyone down the road.  Some of us have been trying to explain that this stuff is cyclical.  That it is impermanent.  That it is beholden to cheap money and perfect market conditions that rarely remain static.  For years I've been called many different names, most of them not something  would repeat in mixed company.  At some point people are going to acknowledge that those of us who have spent our adult lives in the industry--and who posted facts on here at great risk to our professional lives--were in fact not trying to swindle you.  We have been here to help you since day one.  Because even though helping you may not have been the best way to maximize our own profits it helped us sleep at night.  It made it possible to hold our children and not feel like we were the cause of someone else's suffering.  And for that we were called liars and thieves.  Ladies and gentlemen, you are now witnessing the other side of the shale mirage.  When October hits and the revolver raid happens look for a few of these shale players to get wiped out entirely.  Look for consolidation.  Look for blood in the streets.  And then, when the dust settles and the bodies are strewn about, please remember that you were warned that nothing lasts forever.  Remember that some of us truly wanted to help you even though we came from the big, bad, evil industry.  

As for me, I've moved on.  I left the oil and gas industry because there's nothing left for me to do.  I have a family to feed and I can't do it by making $0/month.  Everything you think you know about how the oil and gas industry operates is a myth.  Unless you've lived it then you're just relying on whispers that come and go with the wind.  When commodity prices were high everyone made money.  Even an idiot can make money at $100 oil.  But now that the tide has rolled out you get to see who's swimming naked.  And guess what?  It's all of them.  They're all still breathing because of junk bonds and gullible investors who were so desperate for yield that they were willing to lend money to anyone who offered them a halfway decent coupon.  If you haven't been drilled yet here's my advice: go back to your life.  Hug your kids.  Kiss your wife or husband.  Forget all about the notions of Jed Clampett wealth that were promised to you by hucksters in cowboy boots or anonymous commentaries on this blog.  Focus on what matters in life.  We are barely into a cycle that will be long, hard, and will crush the fortunes of a lot of oilmen who thought they were smarter than everyone else.  

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Keith Mauck (Site Publisher) on August 14, 2015 at 4:49am

Thanks for your commentary Dexter, you make some good points.

Permalink Reply by alan coogan on August 14, 2015 at 8:21am

Dexter--

Right on ! from an oil and gas guy since 1959,  who has  been through the cycle 4-5 times.

Alan Coogan.

Permalink Reply by joe long on August 14, 2015 at 6:24am

Liars and thieves,  is right  and their is some on here lurking as well ! and what you think you own may be taken away so, be careful what you say and info you give out . or you may own nothing in the end . later 

Permalink Reply by Corvette on August 15, 2015 at 3:13am

Joe, my experience, land agents, and most so  called oil and gas attorneys will throw you under the bus for their benefit. I've done o.k. but a lot of innocent land owners were really taken advantage of. I would rather have less money than live in an industrialized waste land.

Permalink Reply by bo boboski on August 14, 2015 at 11:05am

It remains to be seen, but it could be that the folks who sold their mineral rights for $12000  per acre, or more,AFTER already earlier getting a signing bonus of $5,000. per acre, will turn out to be the real winners in the Utica shale .????

Permalink Reply by Billy Bob Meeker on August 14, 2015 at 4:11pm

You are spot-on, Dexter!

There are a few landowners in Harrison Co., OH, that have made some seriously big bucks since this all began, but for the most of us life goes on just as it had before the O&G companies rolled into town.  Those who had dreams of becoming JR Ewing are in for a disappointment.

Yes, we got signing bonus money and a small portion of one of our farms is in a producing drilling unit so we've gotten some "free money" that we never expected.  It has allowed my wife and I to do a few things we never expected to afford but, in general, our life goes on as before.

Hopefully, our children or grandchildren will eventually benefit from the natural treasure under our property.

Permalink Reply by Joseph-Ohio on August 14, 2015 at 4:55pm
No such thing as free money.
Permalink Reply by Joseph-Ohio on August 15, 2015 at 1:10am
Land purchases are investments.

Leases / Royalty / Sales are a Return On Investment.
Permalink Reply by Dexter Green on August 14, 2015 at 5:19pm

"Hopefully, our children or grandchildren will eventually benefit from the natural treasure under our property."

More important than that your children and grandchildren will benefit from living in a country that's free and that respects private property rights (the last seven years of presidential politics notwithstanding).  

Permalink Reply by Summer Johnston on August 15, 2015 at 2:14am

I read a comment posted on zerohedge.com the other day from someone with a relative in the business in Houston. Despite the housing market still holding up there, he said oil/gas was a "bloodbath."

So sad. And the ripple effects for the economy at large haven't even been considered yet.

Permalink Reply by Billy Bob Meeker on August 15, 2015 at 2:34am

I've heard the same from an acquaintance that works for XTO in PA.  Many layoffs at XTO and other major O&G companies coupled with the trickle-down of resulting layoffs in the O&G drilling support and service companies.  Boom times appear to have gone bust!

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